Dating Samantha help, Pics added~~HELP!

[kikilives]

I just bought a Samantha doll, bed and commode that has been sitting on a shelf, her bed or in a closet for atleast 7 years. She never even had her clothes removed. Anyways, I'm trying to figure out if she is PM or not and was trying to narrow it down based on the dates and countries listed on her clothing. Her dress says Outfit made in Hungary for Pleasant Company and her tights say Made in Taiwan for Pleasant Company 1993. Her hardcover meet book has a copyright of 1986 and 1998. Does this mean she was made in 1998 or just the book?

I just don't want to list her as PM if she isn't. She is such a beauty. The girl she belonged to was named Samantha and that is why she was given her but she never really got into the whole doll thing. Her parents are thinking she got her for either Christmas 1998 or 99 but they weren't a 100% sure.

Thanks,
Kristin

<font color="#33CCCC"><font size="1">[ September 11, 2006 01:40 PM: Message edited by: Brown*Eyed*Girl ]</font></font>

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ September 11, 2006 08:00 PM: Message edited by: Brown*Eyed*Girl ]</font>

[robin0850]

Can you post pictures? One can tell a little bit from her facemold. [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

[kikilives]

Here are a few head shots.

Thanks,
Kristin

ETA the link Duhhh, how silly of me!

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2101995234

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ September 11, 2006 01:43 PM: Message edited by: Brown*Eyed*Girl ]</font>

[samo22]

I believe she is PM, but I could be mistaken...

[kikilives]

Thanks, anyone else want to chime in?

Kristin

[cami713]

She definitely looks PM to me. Aside from less face coloring, and her head being fuller, she has the poufier bangs that many PM dolls, as opposed to the M ones that seem to lie perfectly, and are harder to mess up (perhaps the different texture?).

[kikilives]

Thanks Samo and Cami. I don't think I'll be able to part with her. So far I am 0 for 3 on buying dolls to resell and actually selling them. I still have the bed, commode and nightime necessities to sell to help make back some of my money. How do you guys do it. I was fine when she was haning out in a box covered up but then I took her out to take pictures and bam [img]graemlins/heart.gif[/img] . Just don't know if I can do it.

Anyways, thanks
Kristin

[emsmombuysdolls]

I am still learning myself, but I thought that the body tag was a big clue. I.E. no body tag on the side = Pre Mattel.

[Jeanette M.]

She looks a lot to me like my dolls I have purchased that came in the urban meet outfit - that was from fall 2000-2002. They are the ones I like to call the "in-betweens." That is the end of the PM's just before they started the Mattel molds. One good clue we don't want to overlook is the publication date in the book. If that is the original book this doll came with, she was definitely not purchased before the latest date listed - in this case 1998!

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ September 12, 2006 12:30 AM: Message edited by: Jeanette M. ]</font>

[cami713]

If that is the original book this doll came with, she was definitely not purchased before the latest date listed - in this case 1998!

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Obviously she wasn't purchased before the date, but she could have been made before the book was. They don't throw away the older dolls they still have in the factory with new books published. It's very possible they could have just put new books in with older dolls. Especially if it's a newer version of the book (the "new" at the time cover, or the re-illustrated one).

I do think it's a pretty valid way of determining age, but I definitely don't think she has to have been made after the book was.

1998 sounds like a good guess of her age, which could easily mean she's still a PM doll. Mattel didn't throw everything out and start from scratch, certainly they just kept selling what had already been made, and this Samantha easily could have been sitting around for a year or more before she was sold.

Personally, if listing her on Ebay, I'd say that you think she looks PM, but state the book date, and that you aren't really sure if she is or not since you aren't the original owner. But it doesn't sound like you're going to sell her anyway, so it probably doesn't matter [img]smile.gif[/img] .